Operation: "Not enough fridge space." #1: Dry Fit

So it’s been a while. Yeah, sorry about that. Although I strive to be like my hero Steve Ramsey from WWMM and crank out a project all the time I find that the only time I really have the extra non-guilt-attached cash to spend on lumber is around the holiday season when I get a bonus from my day job. Either way without further ado I give you Operation: “Not enough fridge space.”

For those of you who know me personally (which is really none of you on here haha) you’ll know I’m somewhat of novice sommelier. Okay, not really. I just really enjoy getting the perfect pairing of wine and a meal. I know, I know this is woodworking a manly man craft of callouses, sweat, chisels, and blades, but gosh dangit I… I’m rambling. Either way lets make this entry not as long and fluffed out more than it needs to be. Although I will be giving away a free tip for you fellas to really treat your special someone right come this next Valentines Day (or whenever) somewhere within it…

Over the holidays my wife made a great discovery of a problem we’re facing, and a fine problem to have indeed if you’re like me. We have far too many bottles of wine for our refrigerator. Somewhere between making my first roasted turkey, and not putting up a Christmas tree we had accumulated a small grouping of wines, albeit some “bargain-bin” arbor mists, a fancy this-or-that, and a bottle of champagne. Our fridge was beginning to look like it was getting stocked for a long weekend at a cheapo book club meeting, and that’s when it hit me, but I probably shouldn’t have had my head down in the fridge like that without holding the door open I suppose. So then my darling dear suggests we get a wine rack, or that I should make one, and thus Operation: “Not enough fridge space” was born.

Thanks to WWMM and my last project that I posted a while ago I sat down at the reins and began the “in depth” quest of once again becoming the keyboard cowboy and russling up the best deals I could find in my area for supplies. I was going all out this time looking for some beautiful exotic woods for this fantastic wine cabinet I found plans for online. “Wow, every place around here kinda sucks” is probably the most popular thought that kept running through my head while looking. I did find a reasonably priced place to get some of the fancier stuff, but by the time I’d get to it I’d have to cross a state line an hour and a half away in a pickup truck that doesn’t get the best gas mileage. I mean not the worst, but not the best. I’m sure some of you have run into this before. Down trodden I just kind of tinkered around in Sketch Up for a while trying to make something that kind of resembled the awesome plans that I couldn’t afford.

This went on for a few days, and then my inspiration (wife) kicked into gear again. Why not make something that will fit on the bookshelf downstairs? AH-HA! Perfect I’ll design something that will fit on the one shelf that really doesn’t have anything to important on it (at least from what it looks like, and just keep it simple. I mean we’ve already got cupboards in the kitchen why make a storage area for glasses already in storage? Why try to find floorspace in our smaller house when a person can use their space laterally that’s already available! So I jumped back onto Sketch Up and banged out a basic, but nifty little plan for a wine rack that will hold 10 bottles fairly close together. We only have five bottles at this present time, but hey… a wino can dream, right? Maybe I’ll get another bottle of my favorite romantic time wine to thank my wife for inspiring me so much.

That reminds me I promised you guys my wine tip for the ladies (or your special someone regardless of gender). If you can locate a bottle of Rosa Regale Sparkling Red Banfi wine get it. I think some Wal-mart, Sam’s Club, and other places have it. Once you’ve procured yourself a bottle of said wine as stereotypical as it sounds get yourself some fresh (or frozen depending on the season) strawberries, some dark chocolate chips, and a little fondue pot or mini crock-pot like the “Crock-Pot 16-Ounce Little Dipper Warmer” you can find on Amazon. I’m sure you can see where this is going, but get yourself some nice red wine goblets, a couple candles, perhaps a nice linen table cloth and make a chocolate fondue for two. Heck go all out and release snow white doves, and glitter, and unicorns for your sweetheart to show them your love if you want, but I’m telling you just the combination of the Rosa Regale and the chocolate covered strawberry fondue is like magic. I think mostly because it tastes good and you were showing them you were thinking of them.

Now back to my regularly scheduled rambling entry… I’ll try to wrap it up quick. While browsing through the website for Menards (a regional… somewhat pseudo-Home Depot type store) I found they have 1×6x6 red cedar boards for like $6 and there was an 11% rebate on all purchases. One board, a hole saw, and a forstner bit later I have the following dry fit real world mock up…

...now I just need to sand, and maaaaybe stain it, or maybe just rub it down with danish or tung oil.

I don’t know what do you think? Any finishing suggestions for red cedar? Not sure if it is aromatic or western… just cheap.

-- If you learn a lot from your mistakes then I must be a freakin' genius!